Poverty Persistence and Transitions in Uganda: A Combined Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis* David Lawson University of Manchester, UK. Email: david.lawson@manchester.ac.uk Andy McKay University of Bath Email: a.mckay@bath.ac.uk John Okidi Economic Policy Research Centre, Kampala Email: okidi@eprc.or.ug Click here to download working paper

Abstract
Despite Uganda’s impressive reduction in income poverty during the 1990s, recent evidence has shown there to be substantial mobility into and out of poverty. This paper represents one of the first attempts to combine qualitative and quantitative information to understand the factors and processes underlying poverty transitions and persistence. In some instances similar factors are identified by both qualitative and quantitative approaches, including lack of key physical assets, high dependency ratios and increased household size. In other instances though one approach identifies additional factors not so easily identified by the other, for example the impacts of excessive alcohol consumption in many cases. The paper argues that there is considerable value added in combining the two approaches allowing us to provide a much richer understanding of many of the processes underlying poverty and poverty transitions.